Callers were very displeased with the Huawei Mercury Ice, calling it “one of the poorest” handsets we’ve tested. Their complaints were many, but the biggest issues were echo, hollowness and nasally sounding tones. They noted that they had to concentrate to carry on a conversation with us, even though we were both sitting alone in a quiet room. While the Mercury Ice wasn’t the best phone we’ve ever tested, it was a far cry from the worst as their voice was generally plenty loud with good sound reproduction.

Battery:

The 1900mAh battery is rated for 6.5 hours of talk time, but we found that it drained pretty quickly during our testing.

Service Plan:

One way MVNO’s typically differentiate themselves from the competition is by offering unique services, or discounted rates. Unfortunately Radio Shack offers none of that, and as far as we can tell their plans mirror Cricket plans exactly. Ultimately, this appears to be a re-brand right down to the phone offered (Cricket offers the original, black Huawei Mercury, albeit at $50 more). Unlimited plans are $50 and $60, with the extra $10 bumping you from 1GB of un-throttled data up to 2.5GB and the ability to tether. If you want the Mercury than we can understand going with Radio Shack, as it’ll save you $50, but with identical plans and phones like the iPhone and HTC One V available from Cricket we fail to see what Radio Shack’s play here is.

Conclusion:

In the end the Huawei Mercury Ice is a rather unspectacular phone; its performance is sufficient but the operating system outdated and call quality suspect. At just $150 with no contract the price is right, but in the growingly competitive pre-paid space there are better phones with better networks available on better plans. Some MVNO’s start things off with a bang by offering ultra-competitive plans or high-end devices; Radio Shack chose to do neither with their plans nor the Huawei Mercury Ice. As a simple re-brand this MVNO might be a bit easier to operate, but we have to ask: with no special services or devices, why bother?

Phones like these are a disgrace to Google, Android, and the smartphone market. Low budget phones should not be allowed to be sold period. It taints the image of Google and have created a mockery of the white SIII. Please ban these phones and any budget phones.

Only phones with Android ICS should be sold to consumers and not Gingerbread. This is why Apple creates larger leads in the smartphone market. Devices like these that don't create value, but frustration because of lack of support in software and hardware because of the cheap price.

Google if you are listening....Please come out with a list of high end manufacturer's that can distribute Android OS. Ban all of the small fish in the pond trying to make a small buck.

CreeDiddy, i would've given you a thumbs down but no, i guess you're sharing your thoughts because you are wealthy enough to buy any high-end device you desire.
Well, that's not the case for others who don't have enough resource to grab their hands on the latest, beefiest hardware... Considering the price point, it is quite fair...and anyone, not rich enough, going by just the numbers of the hardwares would find this acceptable. I know it's not a time for Google to come up with an outdated Gingerbread version of Android, and i know it won't last...but like i said, for some people living a life of economic leisure, this is fine for them. I'm not against you...i'm sharing my thoughts like you.

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